-,  /  - 


ADDRESS 


OF 


PROF.  FRED  L.  CHARLES 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AND 

RESOLUTIONS 

ADOPTED    BY    THE 

Military  Tract  Educational 
Association 


AT 


NACONB,  ILLINOIS, 
October  20  to  23,  1910 


XAL  SURVEY 


COUNTRY       LIFE       AND       COUNTRY 
SCHOOLS    AS    FACTORS    IN    TRAIN- 
ING   FOR    SERVICE. 

(Abstract  of  a  paper  read  before  the  Mili- 
tary Tract  Educational  Association  at 
Macomb.  Illinois,  October  22,  1910.) 

Man's  domestication  of  himself  began 
many  millenniums  ago.  It  will  continue 
for  a  goodly  season  yet  to  come  before  the 
"higher  critics  '  will  declare  him  well  brok- 
en from  his  original  untamed  state.  Arriv- 
ing comparatively  late  in  the  evolutionary 
procession,  he  has  thus  far  been  much  oc- 
cupied in  orienting  himself  in  the  natural 
world  and  has  found  little  time  as  a  race  to 
take  himself  in  hand  for  intensive  cultiva- 
tion. Of  late  his  progress  has  been  rapid, 
although  an  exaggerated  perspective  from 
such  close  range  may  render  us  too  com- 
placent in  our  judgment  of  his  present 
status,  in  this  long  process,  wherein  he 
who  was  somewhat  less  than  human  has 
made  himself  something  more  than  man, 
unfortunate  condition  has  arisen,  doubt- 
less inevitably.  The  movement  was,  of 
course,  away  from  the  normal  animal  life, 
in  touch  with  earth  and  sky,  toward  the 
manifold  complexities  and  artificialities 
which  characterize  our  modern  social  struc- 
ture. 

Primitive  man  dealt  with  crude  forces; 
his  battle  was  with  the  elements,  he  was 
occupied  with  the  fundamentals  out  of  which 
he  had  emerged.  Modern  man  deals  with 
subtler  forces;  his  struggle  is  to  find  his 
place  in  a  highly  intricate  system;  he  is 
occupied  with  refinements  of  his  own  crea- 
tion. His  indomitable  quest  for  the  un- 
known;   his   inventive   genius;    his   success 


3 

in   solviiiK   the   riddles   of  natural    law,   and 
particularly    the   achievements   of    18th    and 
19th    century    science;    the    development    of 
industrialism  and  the  congestion  of  popula- 
tion into  urban  centers, — have  impelled  him 
to  a   progress   industrial,   commercial,   econ- 
omic, a^  a  rate  too  rapid  for  coincident  bio- 
logical  adjustment.     The  result  is   that   we 
clothe  unwisely  in   raiment  wonderfully  de- 
vised   from    materials   across    the    seas;    we 
feed   not   wisely   but   too   well   upon  viands 
wonderfully    concocted    from    the    offerings 
of    foreign    lands;    we    shelter    in    air-tight 
structures   wherein   the   beasts   of  the   field 
would    perish    miserably   either   from   quick 
consumption   or  from     slow     asphyxiation; 
and   we  huddle  our  habitations   into  closed 
ranks    with    no    regard    for    homeliness    or 
landscapes.     We  cover  earth's  carpet  of  liv- 
ing green  with  one  of  brick,  we  live  in  a  flat 
and  we  order  our  lives  by  the  screech  oi  the 
factory   whistie.     To    ■bring   in   wood"   and 
"fetch  water"  are  pleasantries  of  our  grand- 
parents   which    we    must    translate    to    our 
children.     Ours  is  strictly  a  "press-the-but- 
ton"  age,  an  age  of  physical  comforts  which 
exacts  from  us  the  atrophy  of  much  whole- 
some activity  and  of  many  a  homely  virtue. 
All  along  the  speedway  of  intellectual  ad- 
vance are  evidences  of  the  failure  of  phy- 
sical adjustment,  of  bodily  welfare,  to  keep 
pace    with    the    shifting    conditions.      From 
that  far  away  era  when  the  biped  position 
was  first  assumed — a  posture  for  which  we 
are  yet  unprepared  and  to  which  many  of 
our  ills  may  be  ascribed — down  to  the  spec- 
tacled  age  of  fine   print  and   badly   lighted 
page,   of  embalmed   beef  and   nervous   dys- 
pepsia,  of   automobile   squint  and   air  sick- 
ness,   man    has    paid    large    forfeit    for    his 
sovereignty.   Biologically,   we  have  in  large 

measure  artificialized  both  ourselves  and  our 
environment. 


God  gave  his  creatures  light  and  air 
And  water  open  to  the  skies; 
Man  locks  him  in  his  stitling  lair 
And  wonders  why  his  brother  dies. 

Much  of  our  effort  now  must  be  corrective. 
Science  must  turn  back  upon  itself  and 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  its  lord. 

If  we  wouiU  find  the  type  of  man  who 
best  exemplifies  the  natural  life,  we  must 
seek  him  who  in  forest  or  field,  in  peaceful 
valley  or  in  mountain  fastness,  holding  close 
to  elemental  nature,  pursuing  his  way  un- 
vexed  by  nervous  mart  or  forum,  still  keeps 
apace  the  march  of  progress.  Of  such  was 
western  liberty  born,  and  of  these,  today, 
the  husbandman  is  the  most  significant 
figure.  In  the  centuries  to  come  he  will 
still  be  the  mainstay  of  the  nation. 

He  who  lives  in  God's  out  of -doors  has  his 
complete  being — three-fold,  if  you  wish  to 
call  it  such — under  constant  wholesome 
stimulation.  Every  nation  challenges  his 
interest,  arouses  his  desire  to  know  and  to 
achieve.  He  becomes  self-relfant,  depend- 
ent first  of  all  upon  his  own  resources,  re- 
cognizing his  own  sense  training  and  valu- 
ing the  evidence  of  his  senses  as  the  best 
authority.  The  tiller  of  the  soil  Knocks  at 
Nature's  door  and  she  yields  her  secrets 
and  gives  him  generous  admission  to  her 
precious  stores.  He  knows  the  seasons  as 
they  come  and  go,  and  with  native  intui- 
tion reads  the  signs.  Every  morning  he 
pioneers,  entering  the  new  day  with  the  spir- 
it of  an  explorer,  meeting  emergencies,  mas- 
tering situations,  gaining  dominion  over  the 
earth  and  its  creatures.  His  whole  environ- 
ment functions  to  make  his  life  genuine  and 
sincere,  and  from  this  hardy  contact  with  the 
soil  he  is  stamped  as  one  of  Nature's  own. 
The  simplicity  of  the  life  he  leads  becomes 
a  portion  of  his  nature  and  he  is  character- 


I 
I 


— *»'  --TA^    -   — ■  -^   ~-'WM'^'m^t  »  -»   .^  —  -WM-^^^^'' 


5 

iBtically    rugged,    fearless,     honest,     candid, 
free. 

The  country  is  the  breeding  ground  of 
great  men  in  every  walk  of  life.  Is  our 
city  man  a  blacksmith?  Well  for  him  that 
as  a  boy  he  handled  horses.  Is  he  a  plumb- 
er or  carpenter?  Well  for  him  that  he  grew 
up  under  circumstances  that  called  forth  all 
his  ingenuity  and  skill,  is  he  a  merchant? 
Luck  for  him  that  he  knows  the  needs  of 
the  out-of-town  trade.  Is  he  a  banker?  For- 
tunate lor  him  that  he  comprehends  so  well 
the  economic  principles  that  the  nation's 
welfare  is  rooted  literally  in  the  soil. 

Under    twentieth    century    conditions    the 
home  has  lost  much,  possibly  most,  of  the 
old  time   homely  activities  and   fireside  in- 
dustries  which   contributed   in   large   meas- 
ure toward  the  solidarity  of  the  family  and 
the    development     of   fundamental     virtues. 
In  urban  centers  particularly  the  influence 
of  a  speciaiizea  and  centralized  machinery 
is  everywhere  manifest.     The  open  country 
has  been  anu  ever  will  be  the  last  to  sur- 
render   the    natural    life    and    the    play    of 
primitive  instincts.     Yet  even  here  it  is  al- 
ready necessary  that  the  school  shall  sup- 
plement or  even  supplant  the  home  in  many 
lines   that   were   formerly   conceived   to   be 
wholly    domesixc    in    character.      Now    that 
the    pressing    of    buttons,    the    turning    of 
faucets,  and  the  manipulation  of  valves  suf- 
fice to  provide  most  of  the  comforts  of  life; 
now  that  the  laundry  wagon,  the  tailor  shop, 
the  vacuum  cleaner  and  the  grocery-mobile 
have  erased  the  working  days  from  the  old 
fashioneJ    home    calendar,    the    school    girl 
returns   from  her  books  to  take  little  part 
in  domestic   affairs.     In  many,   many  dwel- 
lings, today,  even  among  the  well-to-do,  the 
only  rational  self-care  or  home-care  is  that 
which  owes  its  origin  to  a  humanized  and 


6 

humanizing  school,  where  household  science, 
manual  arts,  nature-study,  personal  hygiene, 
public  health  and  sanitation  combine  with 
the  humanities  to  spiritualize  the  soul  of  a 
girl.  The  country  school  must  indeeu  be  an 
integral  part  of  country  life,  not  an  ex- 
traneous agency.  I  would  go  so  far  as  to 
say  that  it  must  be  indeed  the  truest  and 
fullest  expression  of  the  rural  idea. 

But  before  this  can  be  achieved,  the 
farmer  must  learn  the  long,  slow  lesson  of 
co-operation.  Every  rural  community  must 
be  one  united  "boosting  club,"  with  the 
school  and  church  at  its  center.  The  ad- 
vantages which  I  have  pictured  as  belong- 
ing to  country  life  can  hold  no  longer  unless 
the  country  man  masters  the  co-operative 
idea.  We  have  much  to  learn  in  this  matter 
from  little  Denmark  and  others  of  our  sister 
nations  across  the  sea.  The  farmer,  too, 
is  far  behind  his  city  brother  in  learning 
the  value  of  united  action.  In  production, 
transportation  and  consumption,  in  irriga- 
tion, cultivation  and  marketing,  in  soil  rest- 
ing, seed  testing  and  cow  testing,  tarmers 
must  join  hands  to  common  eads.  Con- 
solidation of  schools  is  but  one  phase  of  tne 
great  co-operative  movement  which  must 
soon  come  in  all  enlightened  communities 
where  holdings  are  small.  What  city  would 
tolerate  a  professional  man  or  tradesman 
who  for  a  liietime  of  residence  in  that  city 
deliberately,  in  practice  and  example,  in- 
jured the  municipality  and  lowered  the  val- 
ues of  its  real  estate?  Yet  unnumbered  ex- 
amples may  be  quoted,  country-wide,  of 
citizens  in  rural  communities  who,  through 
ignorance,  tradition  or  avarice,  have  mined 
the  soil  rather  than  farmed  it,  depreciated 
values  and  left  to  lueir  children  and  their 
community  the  sorry  remnant  of  a  once  fer- 
tile estate.  We  may  forecast  the  time 
when    such    practices    will    be   regarded    as 


g%--  ■   *   •   TJ-^'A^" 


intolerable  or  even  criminal,  and  when  such 
abuse  of  fertility  will  be  regarded  as  on  a 
plane  with  arson  and  related  forms  of  wilful 
destruction  of  property.  When  the  co-opera- 
tive era  of  wnich  I  have  spoken  is  at  hand, 
when  country  folk  are  impelled  by  motive 
of  mutual  good  and  common  welfare,  then 
will  country  life — the  natural  life— assume 
significance  as  never  before,  as  a  world, 
factor  in  training  for  service.  And  when  this 
time,  so  fast  approaching,  is  really  at  hand, 
perhaps,  indeed,  as  harbinger  of  that  day, 
the  country  school  will  come  into  its  own. 
Its  contribution  to  the  community  it  serves, 
and  the  community's  contribution  to  it,  will 
surpass  the  present  vision. 

I  am  convinced  that  within  a  decade  the 
vitalized  and  redirected  country  school  will 
come  to  be  in  Illinois.     With  no  neglect  but 
rather  a  strengthening  of  its  humanities,  it 
will.   In    the   course   of   its    legitimate    edu- 
cational   activities,    make    economic    contri- 
bution to  the  community  far  beyond  what  is 
dreamed   0£   today.     It   will   test   the   milk, 
try-out  the  seed  for  vitality  and  purity  and 
for  excellence  oi  strain,  introduce  new  va- 
rieties of  cultivated  plants,  judge  the  stock, 
teach  rational   methods  of  rearing,  feeding 
and   housing  farm     animals,     revolutionize 
poultry    keep,    prune    and    spray    the    fruit 
trees,  disseminate  knowledge  of  injurious  in- 
sects and  fungi  and  make  studies  of  their 
life   history   and   the   means   of   combatting 
them,    create    an    irrepressible    demand    for 
good  roads,  improve  machinery,  and  the  com- 
forts and  sanitation  of  the  home,  establish 
higher  ideals  of  landscape  architecture,  and 
in  many  other  ways  build  up  values  material 
and  spiritual  and  serve  to  tie  the  affections 
of  youth  to  the  land.     No  other  appeal  will 
so  soon  loosen  the  purse-strings  of  the  farm- 
ing community,  open  the  way  for  consolida- 
t-on,  develop  ■  long-awaited  rural  leadership, 


8 

and  bring  the  new  century  agriculture  into 
its  own.  Even  now  the  country  minister  is 
aroused  to  the  needs  of  the  times  and  one 
of  the  moac  efficient  means  he  has  found  in 
preparing  for  genuine  service  and  uplift  is 
to  take  a  practical  course  in  farming. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  economic  contribu- 
tion of  the  country  school  to  the  communi- 
ty whose  creature  it  is,  but  the  obligation 
is  mutual,  and  while  the  schools  are  training 
for  service,  I  insist  that  the  community,  not 
as  an  abstract  social  mass,  but  as  individu- 
al servants  of  the  common  good,  shall  render 
like  contribution  to  the  school.     Each  farm- 
er, striving  as  he  should  in  some  particular 
to  excel  his  neighbors,  is  to  invite  teacher 
and    pupils    to    his    farm    to    witness    some 
operation  of  which  he  is  master  and  in  which 
intelligence   is   involved.     If  farmer   A   has 
developed  a  meritorious   ureed  of  corn,  let 
him  Invite  the  school  to  accompany  him  into 
the  field  belore  harvest  time  to  follow  him 
in  the  selection  of  his  seed,  and  thus  to  learn 
the  lesson   oi  heredity  and  racial  improve- 
ment.     If   farmer   B    has   enriched    his    soil 
by    the    application    of   needed    plant   foods 
and  the  growing  of  beneficial  legumes,   let 
him — merely  as  a  good  citizen  and  not  in  a 
spirit  of  price  or  of  altruistic  righteousness 
— invite  tue  upper  classes  to  visit  his  fields 
and  learn  the  lesson  of  a  scientifically  con- 
trolled  environment  and   the   conserving  of 
resources    for    a    people    that    yet    may    be 
hungry.     If  the  rural  physician  knows  the 
pool   where   malarial   mosquitoes   breed,   let 
him  lead  tue  school  on  a  tour  of  inspection; 
then   give   demonstration   of  the   means   of 
correcting  the  evil.     If  a  youth  has  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  a  course  in  the  College  of 
Agriculture,  let  him  seek  occasion  to  demon- 
strate  some    worthy  product  of   some   sim- 
ple operation  of  interest  to  the  school.     I 
can   conceive   no   higher   type   of   extension 


teaching— no  higher  type  of  service— than 
this  very  expression  of  the  civic  virtues 
on  the  part  of  those  who  through  superior 
opportuniues  are  preparing  to  serve  their 
fellows  of  the  rural  community.  If  a  young 
woman  has  learned  to  cut  and  sew  and  mend, 
if  she  has  learned  to  select  meat  tor  cook- 
ing or  to  plan  a  wholesome  meal,  she  has 
a  working  capital  which  she  may  invest  in 
the  rural  school.  The  community  indeed 
bears  obligation  to  the  school.  Parents, 
graduates,  directors,  tradesmen,  ministers! 
professional  men,  each  and  all  can  and 
should  train  themselves  for  service  to  the 
school,  and  nowhere  is  the  contribution  more 
needed  than  in  the  open  country. 

We  cannot  say  that  the  movement  is  now 
"back  to  the  land,"  for  the  drift  cityward 
is  still  on,  although  it  may  be  to  some  extent 
subsiding.      Improved    conditions    of    living 
are   doubtless   now  operating  to   hold   boys 
and  girls  on  the  farm  who  formerly  would 
have  yielded  to  the  lure  of  the  city.     The 
rural  population,  however,  even  in  our  own 
state,   is   shrinking  not  only  relatively   but 
absolutely,  as  the  census  just  completed  re- 
affirms.    Land  values  are  now  so  high  and 
scientific  method  so  essential  to  success  that 
the  farmer  who  does  not  put  brains  into  his 
work  is  losing  out  while  his  neighbor  who 
looks  upon  farming  as   a  profession  is   ab- 
sorbing his  land.     Thus  the  farm  estates  of 
Illinois    are    growing   larger.      The    country 
school  which  guides  its  children  in  a  whole- 
some attack  upon  environmental  materials, 
as  these  materials  may  be  organized  in  the 
form  of  problems  suited  to  their  years,  will 
contribute   its    full    quota   of   leadership   in 
rural  affairs  and  will  be  recognized  as  the 
foremost  factor  in  training  for  service.  The 
tremendous   enthusiasm  exhibited   by   cities 
in  building  up  their  population,  the  inordi- 
nate pride  in  swollen  census  returns,  will 


10 

some  time  oe  deplored,  and  there  will  devel- 
op a  saner  appreciation  of  those  common 
blessings  which  are  afforded  by  the  open 
coimtry  and  which  cannot  be  found  in  con- 
gested  centers. 

I  have  referred  to  man  as  an  unfinished 
evolutionary  product — a  masterpiece  still  in 
the  making — and  in  that  making  subjected 
in  part  to  unfavorable  conditions  of  his  own 
determination.     Probably   the   highest   type 
of  living,  of  naturalness  and  freedom  is  ex- 
emplified   by    an    enlightened    country    folk. 
The  present  status  of  our  rural  people  con- 
stitutes the  burden  of  the  thought  and  en- 
deavor   of    great    students    and    leaders    of 
our  national  progress.    There  is  no  training 
ground  for  service  superior  to  those  voca- 
tional activities  which  characterize  the  agri- 
cultural   life.      In    this    training    the    rural 
school  must  be  the  foremost  agent.     In  a 
day  now   dawning  the   school  will  broaden 
to  serve  tne  universal  ends  that  lie  before 
it,  to  play  its  part  not  along  in  theory,  in 
Qiscipline,  and  in  what  we  have  been  wont 
to  call  the  higher  things  of  life,  but  in  all 
the  affairs  of  men.     To  achieve  this  end  a 
duty  rests  upon  each  and  all  of  us,  not  only 
as    units    but    as    integers.      Whatever    our 
capacities,  we  must  rally  to  the  reinforce- 
ment   of    that    great    training     ground     for 
righteousness   and   efficient  citizenship — the 
American    public    school.      ihe    next    great 
step  in  advance  is  to  be  taken  by  the  school 
in  the  country.    Let  us  apply  ourselves  unto 
its  proolems.     i^ellow  teachers  of  rural  Illi- 
nois, rejoice  in  the  unequalled  opportunity 
for  service  that  opens   before   you.     Shape 
your  teaching  to  meet  the  needs  both  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  of  the  peculiar  communi- 
ty you  serve.    The  city  lad  answers  the  want- 
ads  of  the  tradesman;  the  country  youth  is 
to  answer  the  want-ads  of  nature.  Stand  with 
him  and  for  him,  and  for  the  country  girl. 
Study    with    ^hem,    enter    into    their    lives. 
Give   of   yourself   freely   and   the   abundant 
reward,  of  service  freely  given  will  be  yours. 


11 


RESOLUTIONS     ADOPTED    AT     MACOMB, 
ILLINOIS,    OCTOBER   23,    1910. 

With  continued  faith  in  the  public  schools 
and  firm  belief  that  the  development  of  a 
great  democracy  is  impossible  without  them, 
the  Military  Tract  Educational  Association, 
holding  its  third  annual  meeting  in  Ma- 
comb, and  representing  teachers  and  friends 
Oi  education  in  western  Illinois,  makes  the 
following  declaration  of  principles  and  aims: 

1.  We  are  conscious  of  the  present  ten- 
dency to  diversify  and  overburden  courses 
of  study  in  the  elementary  grades,  and  be- 
lieve that  the  complaint  of  many  business 
men  that  pupils  from  public  schools  are  in- 
accurate and  careless  is  a  criticism  not 
wholly  unfounded.  \Ve  therefore  recom- 
mend to  our  membership  that  attention  to 
the  essential  subjects,  and  the  continuous 
drill  necessary  for  accurate  training  be 
not  relaxed;  it  is  our  belief  that  no  course 
of  study  in  any  public  school  should  be  ex- 
panded at  the  expense  of  the  essential  and 
practical  parts  of  the  common  English 
studies.     But 

2.  We  believe  that  the  expansion  of  the 
common  school  to  meet  the  needs  of  a  grow- 
ing civilization  should  be  encouraged  and 
continued.  The  present  movement  toward 
the  consolidation  of  country  district  schools 
and  the  establishment  of  townsui.i  high 
schools  is  an  evidence  of  progress.  We  re- 
gret that  this  form  of  progress  is  more 
in  evidence  in  many  other  states  than  't  is 
in  Illinois.  We  therefore  urge  upon  our 
constituency  the  importance  to  the  Mili- 
tary Tract  of  a  fair  distribution  of  opportu- 
nities for  secondary  education.  There  is 
absoluiely  no  reason  why  the  child  in  the 


12 

country  should  not  receive  the  benefits  of 
school  education  to  an  extent  fully  equiva- 
lent to  the  education  furnished  in  the  towns. 

3.  The  character  and  efficiency  of  the 
schools  aepend  upon  the  ability  of  the 
teaching  body.  To  the  end  that  the  business 
of  teaching  shall  attract  men  and  women 
of  higher  intellectual  attainments,  more 
thorough  training,  and  higher  ideals,  we 
urge  upon  the  next  General  Assembly  to 
consider  and  act  upon  the  recommendations 
of  the  Illinois  Educational  Commission  in 
the  matters  of  the  preparation  and  certifi- 
cation of  teachers,  and  a  provision  for  the 
more  equitable  support  of  teachers'  insti- 
tutes and  improved  rules  for  conducting 
the  same.  We  furthermore  respeoctuUy 
represent  to  the  public,  and  to  the  Lieneral 
Assembly  representing  the  people,  that  the 
compensation  of  teachers  should  be  more 
nearly  equal  lo  that  paid  in  other  pursuits 
requiring  a  like  degree  of  preparation  and 
intelligence;  we  request  the  next  General 
Assembly  to  consider  the  recommendations 
of  the  Illinois  Educational  Commission  with 
reference  to  a  minimum  salary  law  for 
teachers.  We  favor  the  extension  of  agri- 
cultural and  other  forms  of  industrial  edu- 
cation, and  especially  commend  the  oppor- 
tunities in  these  lines  offered  by  our  West- 
ern Illinois  State  Normal  School  at  Ma- 
comb. 

4.  We  are  proud  of  the  splendid  mate- 
rial provision  made  by  the  State  at  Macomb 
for  the  training  of  teachers,  and  believe 
that  the  work  of  the  school  is  up  to  the  high 
standard  established  for  Illinois  by  the  old- 
er Normal  Schools.  We  especially  appreci- 
ate the  evident  desire  of  the  management 
of  the  school  to  keep  informed  of  and  in 
touch  with  the  actual  conditions  and  needs 
of  all  types  of  schools  in  the  Military  Tract, 


13 

and  to  spare  no  effort  to  be  of  the  greatest 
possible   service   to   them. 

5.  Believing  that  the  formation  of  char- 
acter is  the  ultimate  reason  for  the  expen- 
diture of  millions  for  the  maintenance  of 
schools,  we  adopt,  as  our  own.  the  declara- 
tion of  the  National  Education  Association 
at  Boston,  1910,  that  "The  fundamental  con- 
sideration in  any  system  of  schools  is  the 
development  of  inflexible  integrity  and 
strong  moral  character  in  those  receiving 
instruction.  The  republic  cannot  survive 
without  a  citizenship  of  high  ideals,  patriot- 
ism, duty,  and  service.  This  Association, 
thereiore,  commends  most  heartily  the 
growing  interest  in  the  moral  development 
of  the  children  of  the  nation." 

6.  The  successful  efforts  to  set  up  a  stan 
dard  of  efficiency  in  the  country  schools,  the 
skillful  guidance  of  the  studies  and  deliber- 
ations of  the  Illinois  Educational  Commis- 
sion, the  wide  dissemination,  through  the 
Educational  Press  Bulletin,  of  information 
to  the  public,  and  practical  advice  to  school 
officials  and  teachers,  and,  in  general,  the 
broad-minded  initiative,  energy,  and  com- 
mon sense  of  Francis  G.  Blair,  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  have  earned 
the  respect,  while  his  genial  candor  and  sin- 
cerity have  won  the  affection  of  his  co-la- 
borers in  education  in  every  part  of  our 
State.  His  re-nomination,  without  opposi- 
tion, was  a  credit  to  his  party,  and  his  re- 
election will  be  in  the  interest  of  a  contin- 
ued advance  in  public  school  education  in 
Illinois. 

WHEREAS,  The  more  progressive  uni- 
versities in  this  country  have  established 
or  are  establishing  Schools  of  Education  or 
Teachers'  Colleges,  which  shall  adequately 
represent  in  the  university  organization  the 
needs  and  ideals  of  the  teaching  profession; 


14 

WHERji.AS,  The  present  facilities  at  the 
University  of  Illinois  for  the  training  of 
high  school  and  college  teachers,  for  the 
advanced  training  of  special  teachers  of  the 
industrial  arts,  and  for  the  training  of  su- 
pervisory and  administrative  officers  are  in- 
adequate to  the  demands  that  the  schools 
of  the  State  are  making  upon  the  University 
for  trained  workers  in  these  fields; 

RESOLVED,  That  we  do  hereby  request 
the  Trustees  of  the  University  of  Illinois  to 
give  to  the  School  of  Education  of  that  Uni- 
versity all  the  support  that  is  needed  for  its 
development  to  the  point  where  it  may  ade- 
quately serve  the  needs  of  the  State;  and  be 
it  further 

RESOLVED,  That  we  petition  the  Gen- 
eral Assemoly  of  the  State  of  Illinois  at  its 
coming  session  to  appropriate  a  sum  suffi- 
cient for  the  erection  and  equipment  of  a 
building  for  the  School  of  Education  at  the 
University  of  Illinois;  and  be  it  further 

RESOLVED,  That  the  secretary  of  this 
Association  be  instructed  to  send  a  copy  of 
these  resolutions,  in  the  form  of  a  petition, 
to  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  to  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
University,  and  to  both  houses  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly;  and  that  the  President  of 
the  Association  be  instructed  to  appoint  a 
committee  of  five  from  this  Association  to 
cooperate  with  similar  committees  from 
other  associations,  in  order  to  promote  this 
course. 

WHEREAS,  There  are  now  bills  before 
Congress,  with  a  favorable  recommendation 
from  the  respective  committees,  both  in  the 
senate  and  the  house,  (Senate  Bill  No.  530, 
House  Bill  No.  24316)  proposing  to  extend 
to  the  District  of  Columbia  the  benefits  of 
the  so-cailed  Morrill  Acts  for  the  promotion 
of  education  in  agriculture  and  the  mechan- 


t 


15 

ic  arts,  and  to  c*ssign  the  respective  funds  to 
a  private  institution;  and 

WHEREAS,  This  Association  is  in  full 
accord  with  the  National  Education  Associa- 
tion in  the  Ociief  stated  in  its  latest  declar- 
ation at  Boston,  that  "Any  appropriation 
from  the  federal  or  state  treasury  in  sup- 
port of  private  educational  institutions  is  in 
direct  contravention  of  the  fundamental 
principles  upon  which  our  ultimate  Ameri- 
can public  school  education  has  been  found- 
ed and  has   prospered;    therefore  be  it 

RESOLVED.  That  the  members  of  this 
Association  would  regard  the  passage  of 
such  a  bill  as  a  menace  to  the  educational 
interests  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the 
senators  and  representatives  from  this  State 
are  hereby  requested  to  oppose  the  passage 
of  said  bill,  and  that  the  secretary  of  this 
Association  is  directed  to  send  a  copy  df 
this  resolution  to  each  member  of  Congress 
from  this  State,  and  further,  that  the  secre- 
tary of  this  Association  is  directed  to  send 
a  petition,  signed  by  the  officers  of  this 
Association,  against  the  passage  of  either 
of  these  bills  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  to  the  President  of 
the  Senate. 


(Signed.) 


ALFRED    BAYLISS. 
CORA  F.   STONE, 
CHAS.    E.    JOINER, 
Committee  on  Resolutions. 


•pHE  Secretary,  after  several  attempts,  be- 
ing   unable    to  procure    the  address   of 
Supt.   B.   B.  Jackson,   Holine,  III,   omits   the 
same. 


